Victor EzejaCases of out-of-school children in Nigeria has risen to a concerning level with not less than 20 million according to UNESCO report.
The report published by Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI) 2022, showed that seven states have rates above 50% and 10 states have rates below 10%.
According to the report, Kebbi State has the highest number (67.6%) of out-of-school children aged 6–15. This is followed by Sokoto with 66.4%, Yobe, 62.9%, Zamfara, 61.3%, and Bauchi, 55.7%.
Issues like poverty, inadequate infrastructure and lack of awareness have been identified as the major factor driving the prevalence of out-of-school children in parts of the country.
Observers have also raised concerns that the growing insecurity such as kidnapping, banditry and insurgency, especially in parts of the north, contibute to worsening the problem of out-of-school children as many, who have been driven away from their homes and out of school, are now in Internally Displaced Persons camps.
This development has a significant impact on the future prosperity of the country as well as the current generation. Nigeria runs the risk of wasting the potential of millions of young people and delaying socioeconomic growth in the absence of coordinated efforts and long-term fixes.
Conversely, Anambra State in Southeast Nigeria also recorded the lowest in number of out-of-school children with 2.9%.
Below is the full list of out-of-school children across states in Nigeria (Ages 6–15)
1. Kebbi: 67.6%
2. Sokoto: 66.4%
3. Yobe: 62.9%
4. Zamfara: 61.3%
5. Bauchi: 55.7%
6. Borno: 54.2%
7. Jigawa: 51.1%
8. Gombe: 48%
9. Katsina: 45.9%
10. Niger: 42.8%
11. Kano: 39.2%
12. Taraba: 28.8%
13. Nasarawa: 25.4%
14. Plateau: 23.2%
15. Kwara: 22%
16. Kaduna: 21.9%
17. Adamawa: 21.7%
18. Oyo: 20.9%
19. Ogun: 20.5%
20. Benue: 18.4%
21. Ebonyi: 16.7%
22. Ondo: 13.8%
23. Osun: 12.8%
24. FCT: 12.8%
25. Edo: 11.3%
26. Akwa Ibom: 10.6%
27. Kogi: 10.2%
28. Delta: 9.3%
29. Rivers: 7.7%
30. Cross River: 7.6%
31. Enugu: 7.5%
32. Bayelsa: 7.4%
33. Lagos: 6.4%
34. Abia: 5.6%
35. Ekiti: 5.1%
36. Imo: 5.1%
37. Anambra: 2.9%
Source: NMPI 2022
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
